U.S. patent number 4,314,683 [Application Number 06/137,563] was granted by the patent office on 1982-02-09 for gutter hanger.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Bird & Son, Inc.. Invention is credited to Joseph M. Cunning.
United States Patent |
4,314,683 |
Cunning |
February 9, 1982 |
Gutter hanger
Abstract
A gutter hanger for attaching a horizontal, generally U-shaped
gutter to the wood fascia of a building features a rigid, one
piece, generally L-shaped bracket having integrally connected,
mutually perpendicular, upper forwardly extending and rear
downwardly extending legs.
Inventors: |
Cunning; Joseph M. (Cohasett,
MA) |
Assignee: |
Bird & Son, Inc. (East
Walpole, MA)
|
Family
ID: |
22478004 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/137,563 |
Filed: |
April 7, 1980 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
248/48.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04D
13/0725 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E04D
13/072 (20060101); E04D 013/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;248/48.2 ;52/11,16 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
|
|
|
|
|
225177 |
|
Oct 1957 |
|
AU |
|
272934 |
|
Feb 1967 |
|
AU |
|
296054 |
|
Apr 1967 |
|
AU |
|
496136 |
|
May 1977 |
|
AU |
|
2378917 |
|
Sep 1978 |
|
FR |
|
Primary Examiner: Schultz; William H.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A gutter hanger for attachment to the wood fascia of a building
for supporting a horizontal, generally U-shaped gutter having a
front wall with an inwardly and downwardly turned flange providing
an open bottom recess extending continuously along its horizontal
upper edge, a horizontally extending, generally straight vertical
rear wall and a bottom wall having a downwardly projecting,
horizontal flange extending continuously therealong adjacent said
rear wall
said gutter hanger comprising
a rigid, one piece, generally L-shaped bracket of sheet material of
greater horizontal width than thickness having integrally
connected, mutually perpendicular, upper forwardly extending and
rear downwardly extending legs
said upper forwardly extending bracket leg being adapted to extend
in a horizontal plane across the top of said gutter and having on
its forward end a downwardly, forwardly and upwardly turned flange
having an upwardly turned, horizontal, free end adapted to be
positioned within the open bottom recess on the horizontal upper
edge of the front wall of said gutter to support said upper edge of
said gutter from beneath, and
said rear downwardly extending bracket leg being adapted to be
located between said fascia and the rear wall of said gutter
parallel thereto with the lower end of said downwardly extending
leg extending downwardly beyond said rear wall of said gutter, said
downwardly extending bracket leg having on its lower end forwardly
and upwardly turned horizontal flange means adapted to be
positioned beneath and in front of said downwardly projecting
bottom wall flange to support said gutter from beneath with its
rear wall parallel to said fascia
said bracket legs cooperating to support said gutter for horizontal
adjustment relatively thereto in a direction parallel to said
fascia
said upper forwardly extending bracket leg having integral support
ferrule means extending upwardly therefrom defining a single
open-bottomed extended nail receiving opening means having an axis
extending therealong from a location adjacent its free end to a
location adjacent said rear downwardly extending bracket leg for
slideable receiving a single nail above portions of said upper
forwardly extending bracket leg and above said gutter for free
driving of said nail into said fascia to support said gutter hanger
thereon, while allowing rotational adjustment of said gutter hanger
around said nail for alignment of said gutter hanger with the
gutter supported thereby.
2. A gutter hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said support ferrule means comprises a pair of support ferrules
spaced from one another along said axis with a portion of said
upper bracket leg extending therebetween.
3. A gutter hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein
said rear downwardly extending bracket leg further includes two
vertical downwardly extending prongs on its lower end providing
therebetween a vertical slot adapted to receive a second nail,
thereby preventing rotation of said gutter hanger supporting said
aligned gutter therein.
Description
This invention relates to gutter hangers adapted for attaching
metal or plastic house gutters to the fascia of a building.
In recent years, extruded gutters have found increasing acceptance
as a substitute for conventional wooden gutters in house
construction, since they are not subject to rot caused by the
inevitable presence of moisture and never need painting. Although
such gutters have great advantages over wood gutters, they must,
like wood gutters, still be attached to the wood fascia of a
building. Unlike wood gutters, the side walls of these gutters,
particularly in the case of plastic gutters, cannot have nails
driven through them; therefore, gutter hangers are the most
practical devices for attaching plastic gutters to a building.
There are, however, disadvantages with the various gutter hangers
in the prior art, such as requiring the use of several nails to
attach one gutter hanger or the necessity of using a two-step
intallation procedure of first attaching the gutter hanger to the
fascia and then placing the gutter into the gutter hanger, both of
which are quite time consuming.
When attached to the fascia, aligning a gutter that has been
mounted within a gutter hanger with adjacent gutters is another
problem encountered in the prior art.
A further disadvantage in the prior art is the lack of free
horizontal movement in the gutter, both for facilitating
installation as well as allowing it to expand in summer heat or to
contract in winter cold, after it has been fitted in a gutter
hanger.
Accordingly, it is a major object of the present invention to
provide a novel gutter hanger which is not time consuming to
install.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel
gutter hanger which simplifies gutter installation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel
gutter hanger which allows rotational adjustment of the gutter
hanger for aligning the gutter.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a
novel gutter hanger which allows the gutter to have free horizontal
movement.
In order to accomplish these objectives, the present invention
provides, for supporting a horizontal, generally U-shaped gutter
having a front wall with an inwardly and downwardly turned flange
that provides an open bottom recess extending continuously along
its horizontal upper edge, a generally straight vertical rear wall
and a bottom wall having a downwardly projecting, horizontal flange
extending continuously therealong adjacent the rear wall, a gutter
hanger for attaching the gutter to the wood fascia of a
building.
The gutter hanger of the invention comprises a rigid, one piece,
generally L-shaped bracket of sheet material of greater horizontal
width than thickness having integrally connected, mutually
perpendicular, upper forwardly extending and rear downwardly
extending legs.
The upper forwardly extending bracket leg is adapted to extend in a
horizontal plane across the top of the gutter and has on its
forward end a downwardly, forwardly and upwardly turned flange. The
upwardly turned, horizontal, free end of the flange is adapted to
be positioned within the open bottom recess on the upper edge of
the gutter front wall to support the upper edge of the gutter from
beneath.
The rear downwardly extending bracket leg is adapted to be located
between the fascia and the rear wall of the gutter parallel thereto
and has its lower end extending downwardly beyond the rear wall.
The downwardly extending bracket leg has on its lower end forwardly
and upwardly turned horizontal flanges adapted to be positioned
beneath and in front of the downwardly projecting bottom wall
flange of the gutter. As so mounted, the upwardly turned flanges
support the gutter from beneath and maintain the rear wall parallel
with the fascia.
The upper forwardly extending bracket leg has an upwardly
extending, integral support ferrule means which defines a single,
open-bottomed, extended, nail receiving opening means. The nail
receiving opening means is positioned on an axis extending from a
location adjacent the upwardly turned, horizontal free end of the
upper bracket leg to a location adjacent the rear downwardly
extending bracket leg to slideably receive a single nail above
portions of the upper forwardly extending bracket leg and above the
gutter for free driving of the nail into the fascia to support the
gutter hanger. The ferrule means allows rotational adjustment of
the gutter hanger around the nail for aligning the gutter supported
thereon.
In the preferred embodiment, the support ferrule means comprises a
pair of support ferrules spaced from one another along a generally
horizontal axis with a portion of the upper bracket leg extending
therebetween. Furthermore, the rear downwardly extending leg
includes two vertical downwardly extending prongs on its lower end.
The vertical slot created between the two prongs is adapted to
receive a second nail which prevents rotation of the gutter hanger
after the gutter had been properly aligned.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention
will appear from the following detailed description of a preferred
embodiment thereof, taken together with the accompanying drawings,
wherein:
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the gutter hanger supporting a
gutter and attached to a building fascia;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the gutter hanger of FIG. 1
supporting a gutter; and
FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of the lower end of the rear
downwardly extending bracket leg of the gutter hanger.
Referring to the drawings, the gutter hanger of the present
invention, generally designated 16, is shown attached to a wood
fascia 12 of a building by a two nails 54 and 60 for supporting a
horizontal, generally U-shaped gutter, generally designated 20, of
metal or plastic.
More specifically, the horizontal, generally U-shaped gutter 20 has
a front wall 22, a generally straight vertical rear wall 30 and a
bottom wall 32. Extending continuously along the horizontal upper
edge 26 of front wall 22 is an inwardly and downwardly turned
flange 24 that provides an open bottom recess 28 having a generally
rectangular shape. Bottom wall 32 has a downwardly projecting,
horizontal flange 34 extending continuously along and adjacent rear
wall 30.
The novel gutter hanger 16 of the present invention comprises a
rigid, one piece, generally L-shaped bracket 40 manufactured from a
sheet material of either metal or plastic of greater horizontal
width than thickness.
More specifically, bracket 40 has integrally connected, mutually
perpendicular, upper forwardly extending and rear downwardly
extending legs 42 and 44, respectively. The upper forwardly
extending bracket leg 42 is adapted to extend in a horizontal plane
across the top of gutter 20 and has on its forward end a
downwardly, forwardly and upwardly turned flange 46. The upwardly
turned, horizontal, free end 48 of flange 46 is adapted to be
positioned within the open bottom recess 28 on the upper edge 26 of
gutter front wall 22 to support the upper edge 26 of gutter 20 from
beneath.
The rear downwardly extending bracket leg 44 is adapted to be
located between and parallel to both fascia 12 and the rear wall 30
of gutter 20 with its lower end extending downwardly beyond the
rear wall 30. The downwardly extending bracket leg 44 has on its
lower end forwardly and upwardly turned horizontal flanges 50 which
are adapted to be positioned beneath and in front of the downwardly
projecting bottom wall flange 34 of gutter 20 to support gutter 20
from beneath.
The upper forwardly extending bracket leg 42 has a pair of upwardly
extending support ferrules 52, positioned on a horizontal axis A
and extending from a location adjacent the free end 48 of bracket
leg 42 to a location adjacent the rear downwardly extending bracket
leg 44, for receiving nail 54.
In the preferred embodiment, rear downwardly extending bracket leg
44 further includes two vertical downwardly extending prongs 56 on
its lower end which provide therebetween a vertical slot 58 for
receiving a second nail 60.
Gutter hanger 16 may be mounted on gutter 20 before attaching it to
fascia 12. To do so, the upwardly turned, horizontal, free end 48
of upper bracket leg 42 is positioned within the open bottom recess
28 of gutter front wall 22 and the forwardly and upwardly turned
horizontal flanges 50 of rear downwardly extending bracket leg 44
are positioned beneath and in front of the downwardly projecting
bottom wall flange 34 so that gutter 20 and gutter hanger 16 may be
slid horizontally relative to one another.
Gutter hanger 16, with gutter 20 mounted thereon, may then be
positioned at the desired height on fascia 12 and attached to
fascia 12 by nail 54. Thus attached, the nail receiving support
ferrules 52 allow rotational adjustment of gutter hanger 16 around
nail 54 for aligning the gutter 20 supported thereon with any
adjacent, similarly supported gutters. A second nail 60 is then
placed in the vertical slot 58 at the lower end of the rear
downwardly extending bracket leg 44 to prevent rotation of gutter
hanger 16 supporting the properly aligned gutter 20 therein. As so
mounted, gutter hanger 16 is effective in maintaining gutter 20 in
a horizontal position parallel to fascia 12 when attached thereto.
Gutter hanger 16 also allows gutter 20 to move horizontally in a
direction parallel to fascia 12 to accommodate its contraction and
expansion.
* * * * *